Decency
by SomethingMoreCreative
Summary: In which Hephaestus can't focus, and the object of his distractions appears under his nose. One-shot. Hephaestus/Aphrodite.


**A/N: Hi! This is my first attempt at a Hephaestus/Aphrodite one-shot. I personally think that they should be "together for ever." (include fangirl scream if you want) I got this idea when I was re-reading The Titan's Curse a few weeks ago. Hope you like it! Leave a review if you would be so kind! :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

Hephaestus couldn't focus.

He threw the sword down in anger, leaving a noticeable dent in the concrete flooring. This was the third sword he had messed up in a row. Why was he so off today? What was his problem?

Okay, he _knew _what his problem was, but he had no freaking idea how to even begin to fix it. He couldn't just build a machine to fix a broken heart.

The only thing he could focus on was his gods forsaken wife. The wife that didn't care about him. The wife that cheated on him with his brother and threw it in his face. The wife that was the goddess of love, _but didn't love him._

"Hephaestus." Somebody said. He knew exactly who it was, but he turned around in shock anyway.

Aphrodite was standing in the middle of his workshop. She looked different. He knew that she could change the way that she looked whenever she wanted, but he hadn't seen her like this in a thousand years. She had dark brown hair that dipped just below her shoulders with brilliant green eyes that held a mischievous glint.

He tried not to look disappointed. Why else would she be here if she didn't want something?

"What do you want, Aphrodite?" He grumbled, turning away from her. "I have work."

He felt it when she moved closer to him, but they still didn't touch. Hephaestus couldn't remember the last time he had touched her.

"You're always working." She said. Was that a smile in her voice?

"What else am I going to do?" He said.

"I don't know." She said.

He paused, wondering if he should just ask what she wanted. "Do you want something?"

"Yes."

His heart clenched, and he tried not to get angry. Of course she wanted something.

"Well what is it?"

"You."

He froze.

What did she say? Did she say that she wanted him? How could she want him?

Hephaestus turned around to see her standing not even a foot away. She had a small smile on her face.

"What?" He asked.

"I want you." She said again, placing one of her hands on his chest.

"Why? You have Ares." He said bitterly.

Her hand moved in a slow circle, and he tried not to hum in appreciation.

She scrunched her nose up adorably. "I don't want him. He's arrogant and pig-headed and disgusting."

"Then why have you been cheating on me with him for all of these eons?"

"He's a distraction. He has no substance." Aphrodite said. "He's not you, Hep. But sometimes, I need a distraction from you, and I hate it, but it's true."

He tried to turn away. He knew what was about to happen. Every hundred years or so, (it had been happening a lot more frequently lately) Aphrodite would come in like she did, give him the exact same speech, and they would pretend that everything was okay and that they were together. It didn't last though; sooner or later she ran back to Ares and didn't look back again until she needed something.

And most of them time he didn't mind. He could deal with it. He knew he wasn't the most attractive god, but he could live with it, and when Aphrodite had left him was when he would get some of his best ideas for machines.

But _gods, _sometimes he got so damn lonely with nothing around him except for these machines and tools, that he couldn't connect with Aphrodite when she came to him.

"Hephaestus," Aphrodite whispered. Her face was less than an inch from his.

And by the gods he wanted to kiss her _so much._

"A, I don't… I can't…" He mumbled.

Her lips were already against his, just barely pressed to his. "Yes you can." She whispered against his lips, "Kiss me."

So he did. He kissed her because that was what he wanted, and that was what she wanted and he always gave her what she wanted.

He felt her arms slide around his neck, he felt her press her body deliciously against his.

And when he picked her up off of the ground and set her on his workbench, when he felt her legs wrap around him and pull him closer, when he was kissing her everywhere he could reach, he tried to convince himself that everything would be okay. He tried to convince himself that maybe it wouldn't hurt so much this time, or that she might actually stay with him.

But he knew. After this deed was done, things would go back to normal. He would get to watch while she sat with Ares and laughed with him and gave herself to him.

He must have been into self-inflicted pain because somehow he couldn't find the decency to care.


End file.
